All 4 Poltergeist Movies (& a TV Show) in Order
When ‘Poltergeist’ hit theaters in 1982, it was one of the scariest films to date that shattered box office expectations with almost $80 million worldwide on an estimated $10 million budget. The success of the first film sprouted into a franchise consisting of four movies and one TV show over 33 years. If you want to check out all of them in order, keep reading this article.
‘Poltergeist’ movies in order by release date
The ‘Poltergeist’ franchise started in 1982, while the last film to date came out in 2015. If you’re interested in how the franchise grew piece by piece, here’s the complete release order for all ‘Poltergeist’ movies:
- ‘Poltergeist’ (1982)
- ‘Poltergeist II: The Other Side’ (1986)
- ‘Poltergeist III’ (1988)
- ‘Poltergeist: The Legacy’ (1996-1999)
- ‘Poltergeist’ (2015)
You may notice that the fourth entry on the list isn’t a movie. Rather, it’s a TV show about a team of individuals known as the Legacy that fixes hauntings in all kinds of ways. It was actually quite well-received and ran for 87 episodes over four seasons. Over the next few paragraphs, we’ll discuss how these movies are connected and what the best way of watching them is. SPOILERS ahead!
Are ‘Poltergeist’ movies connected? What’s the best order to watch them?
The first three ‘Poltergeist’ movies are all connected to each other through plots and characters. ‘Poltergeist’ (1982) was a massive hit, but the quality declined evidently with each new film. For comparison, the first film has a 7.3/10 IMDb score, while the third part from 1988 is at 4.7/10, barely breaking even at the box office.
‘Poltergeist: The Legacy,’ on the other hand, worked like a charm, being the second-best rated entry in the franchise with a 6.9/10 score. It didn’t last long, though, as the 2015 remake of the 1982 cult classic fell flat with critics and audiences alike despite actually turning out a decent profit. Those last two entries aren’t really related to the original trilogy from the 1980s and can be viewed as stand-alone projects.
The best way to watch all the ‘Poltergeist’ movies is by watching the TV show last and watching the movies by release order first. You’ll get to watch the trilogy as it was intended chronologically and then watch the 2015 remake of the original movie before diving into the series.
‘Poltergeist’ movies in chronological order
The chronological order of all ‘Poltergeist’ movies – including the TV show – is practically the same as the release order. The first three films happen chronologically as a part of the same trilogy, whereas the other two can be viewed separately, even from each other.
Where to watch the above-mentioned movies?
You won’t be able to find all the movies and the TV show in one place. Naturally, every one of them can be bought/rented on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Vudu, Microsoft Store, and DIRECTV.
If you want to stream them, however, you can find the original ‘Poltergeist’ film on Max and the Max Amazon Channel. The second and third films can be steamed on the Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel or the Cinemax Amazon Channel, while the 2015 remake is only available for streaming on the Cinemax Amazon Channel.
As for the TV series, all four seasons are available on Fubo TV, MGM+, The Roku Channel, and Spectrum.
Will there be more ‘Poltergeist’ movies?
While nothing was made official, reports suggest that a revival of the scary supernatural franchise may be underway now that Amazon has bought MGM. However, the same journalist, Jeff Sneider, also shared that the situation with ‘Poltergeist’ is complicated because ‘Spielberg would likely need to be involved’ as a producer, and there’s no word on whether he’d be interested.
For now, we’ll just say that there is hope for a new entry to the popular horror franchise, but everything is still up in the air and unconfirmed.
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